Healing Wounds'
by headcanonsandmore
Summary: In the summer after the second wizarding war, Charlie Weasley returns home for a visit. However, during his time in his childhood home, Charlie begins to wonder why his siblings continue to tease Ron over his insecurities. Will things continue as they were, or will the wounds of their childhood finally begin to heal? Rated T for language and themes of self-loathing.


'Healing Wounds'

Charlie Weasley landed on solid ground.

He had just apparated from London (having taken an international portkey from Romania), and was now standing on the edge of the Burrow's wards. He looked on in fondness at the familiar building, which always looked like it could barely contain the chaos of the Weasleys contained inside.

He hadn't been in the UK for a while. After the war had ended, he had stayed around to help with the clean-up. After the funeral (his heart closed up as he remembered), he had hung around for a little while just to help around the Burrow. Eventually, Molly Weasley had insisted that she was alright, and demanded that all of her children return to work.

That had been two months ago. It was now getting towards the end of the summer, and the familiar August rains (particular to that part of the country) were now in effect.

Charlie pulled his cloak tightly around him, and marched quickly towards the front door. Already, he could hear the sounds of his various relatives, in-laws and assorted partners.

Stopping only to shake the rain out of his red hair, Charlie knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a familiar voice cut through above the sound of the pouring rain.

'Who is it?'

'It's Charlie, mum. And- before you ask- my greatest wish is to have a dragon sub-species named after me.'

The security questions were a relic of the war. Charlie personally found them annoying, but there were still a few death-eaters who hadn't been rounded up. Better to be safe than sorry, he supposed.

'Charlie!'

The door burst open, and Charlie found himself pulled into a hug with his mother. Charlie wrapped his arms round her, and hugged back. Although he'd never admit it, he always missed his mum whilst away in Romania.

Molly pulled away from me, and examined his face.

'You're looking a little peaky. That food they serve at the reserve clearly isn't doing you any good! Come in, I'm already ready to serve dinner!'

Charlie chuckled. Everytime his mum saw him; she'd insist that he had lost weight. _Well, he could hardly say no to home-cooked food, could he?_

Shrugging off his travelling cloak and his heavy boots, Charlie followed his mother through into the kitchen, which was full with his relatives.

Before Charlie could brace himself, Ginny charged at him, and attempted to crush him in a hug. Considering that she could barely have her hands meet each-other on his back, it was a rather futile effort. But Charlie appreciated it nonetheless.

'Gin- come one- let the poor bloke breath!'

George got up from his seat, and clapped Charlie on the back.

'Alright, mate?'

'Aside from Gin hanging onto me like a sea urchin?'

'Oh, shut it!'

Ginny slapped Charlie playfully on the arm, and sat down next to Harry, who enveloped her hand in his. The baby Teddy Lupin gurgled happily in Harry's lap.

'Everyone; let him sit down!' Mrs Weasley commanded, standing over by the oven as she began to spoon portions of Shepherd's Pie onto plates.

Suddenly feeling immensely hungry, Charlie climbed into a seat next to Ron.

'Alright, Charlie?'

'Not too bad, thanks.' Charlie grinned, noticing Ron's hand surreptitiously rubbing Hermione's knee under the table. 'You two still in wedded bliss, then?'

Hermione's cheeks blushed.

'Not quite at the "wedded" stage yet,' Ron said, his ears reddening but smiling nonetheless.

Charlie grinned. Ron and Hermione had only started dating after the war, but (from what Harry had told him on his last visit) he knew that the two been in love for years. It made Charlie so happy to see his youngest brother so content.

Molly placed a large plate in front of Charlie. The smell made his stomach moan with anticipation.

'Ever gonna pop the question, then, Ron?' Ginny giggled. 'Considering how long it took you two to finally get it sorted, I think we're gonna be in for a long wait for wedding bells.'

Charlie sighed, his mouth full of pie. Here went the teasing _again_. He smiled apologetically at Ron, who was now cutting up his potatoes, a slightly sour look on his face.

Charlie happened to catch Harry's eye, and noticed that the raven-haired young man looked rather uneasy as he watched his best friend.

Ginny, who hadn't noticed, was now feeding spoonfuls of baby food to Teddy.

'Never mind, Ron,' said George, grinning over his plate. 'Maybe you can ask Hermione to propose instead.'

'Oh, shut up!' Hermione snapped, looking irritated. Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie could see Harry's face becoming uneasy again.

As he ate, Charlie began to reflect on this. Whenever he had returned from Romania, it always seemed like Ron was the punchline to a joke. Their other siblings (the twins and Ginny especially) had always seemed to great delight in poking fun at the youngest Weasley boy.

Charlie had never understood it. Maybe it was the fact that their personalities meshed quite well, but he had always been quite close to Ron as they were growing up, despite the age difference. He remembered teaching Ron how to fly a broom. Although their father had taught all of their other siblings, Charlie had been asked by their mother to teach Ron. He remembered the shining look on Ron's face as he rose into the air for the first time. Charlie had said at the time that Ron was an instinctive flyer.

Charlie was always more relaxed than his siblings, at least according to their parents. Bill was the cool one, Percy was the serious one, the twins were the jokesters, and Ginny was… well, a firebrand to say the least. But Charlie and Ron were a lot quieter; they didn't stick out as much. Which Charlie quite liked; it was something he had in common with Ron, aside from the Quidditch.

Granted, in his early years, Charlie had often gotten sick of being in Bill's shadow. But that had faded quickly once he discovered his talent for Quidditch. People said that Charlie was one of the greatest seekers in the history of the Gryffindor house team. Charlie had always brushed those assertions aside; he just loved Quidditch and that was all that mattered. He didn't want to be compared to those before him and didn't feel the need to, either.

Ron, sadly, seemed to have the opposite problem. As Charlie had watched him grow up, Ron seemed to have developed a habit of constantly holding himself in comparison to others. From Ron's perspective, it couldn't have been easy; he was the youngest son, with a lot to live up to. But Charlie had always told him that he didn't need to be anyone else; he just had to be himself.

Ron had always laughed bitterly whenever he said that, muttering ' _that's the problem_ ' before walking away. It made Charlie worry a lot.

And yet, the bizarre thing was; not _one_ of their other siblings seemed to realise this. Not only did they not realise how much Ron compared himself to them all, they actually made reference to it all the time.

Charlie had hoped that time at Hogwarts would make things better for Ron. But it hadn't. Sure, Harry and Hermione were wonderful friends to Ron, but it wasn't easy to step out of the shadows when your best friends were the boy who lived and the brightest witch of her age.

And still the teasing continued.

After dinner was finished, and the washing up had been done, Harry yawned loudly, and stood up, still cradling Teddy Lupin in his arms.

'Well, time to get this little one back to his grans'.' Harry said, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. 'If I'm not careful, Andromeda will have my guts.'

'No, it's okay, Harry; we'll take him.'

Ron stepped forward, motioning to himself and Hermione as he did so.

'Are you sure?' Harry asked, rocking Teddy gently in his arms. 'You don't need to-'

'No, it's alright, Harry.' Hermione said, as Ron carefully took the dosing baby from Harry. 'You could use a quiet night in.'

'Besides,' Ron added, grinning at Hermione. 'We might need to practice for if we ever have kids.'

Hermione smiled, blushing slightly.

'Knowing my brother, he'd probably just forget to use protection,' giggled Ginny.

Charlie frowned. _Geez_ , he thought, _let the poor bloke have his moment…_

Hermione seemed to agree with Charlie.

'Oh, ha ha,' the bushy-haired witch responded, rolling her eyes. 'Because the man who beat McGonagall's chess set at the age of twelve would forget something like that. Anyway, let's get going Ron; traffic is a nightmare at this time of night.'

As the two left the room, Ron rocked Teddy in his arms, humming a lullaby under his breath.

Charlie turned to Harry, and whispered into his ear.

'Is Ginny normally that rude about Ron?'

Harry nodded; his face weary.

'Ever since my sixth year.'

Charlie frowned.

'I wished she'd stop. The poor bloke's going to develop some serious insecurities if she keeps going on about it.'

Harry nodded mutely, a faraway look in his eyes. Charlie got the feeling that the bespectacled young man was hiding something.

Turning to the other Weasleys, Harry began to speak.

'Everyone, I… I need to talk to you all about something. It's about Ron. About… about something that happened during the war.'

Mrs Weasley looked shocked.

'What do you mean? He's not-'

'Oh no,' Harry said. 'Nothing to do with dark magic. Well, not on Ron's part, anyway.'

'How do you mean?'

'Molly,'-Harry's tone was anxious, yet serious-'I'm afraid you'll just to trust me on this. This is something I need to discuss just with Ron's siblings.'

'Oh, okay.' Mrs Weasley said, looking a little worried. Arthur put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Charlie walked into the sitting room, his siblings trailing in after him; sprawling out over the floor or on the various seats scattered around. Ginny was whispering into Harry's ear, but he seemed resolute. Eventually, Ginny gave up, and went to sit on the floor beside the sofa.

'So, what's this about, Harry?' asked Bill, the dim lights reflecting off the scars on his handsome face.

Harry let out a heavy sigh.

'Bill, do you remember when Ron turned up at your place during that winter?'

'Yeah.' The oldest Weasley boy scratched his head, as if pondering. 'I mean, he said that he'd walked out on you, but he never gave a clear reason.'

'There was a reason.' Harry rubbed his ears, wearily.

The Weasley siblings leaned forward.

'Ron walked out on us because a piece of Voldemort's soul was mentally torturing him.'

The effect of these words was instantaneous. Bill paled, Percy dropped the plate he was holding, George's mouth fell open, and Ginny let out a terrified squeak of horror.

'A piece of-'

Harry's eyes met Ginny's.

'Yeah.'

'The horcrux?'

Harry nodded. Ginny put her head in her hands. Bill climbed off the sofa and put his arm around her.

'Harry?' George asked, his voice cracking slightly. 'What did… what did it do to Ron?'

Harry sighed again. In the shadows created by the lights, he looked like he had aged ten years.

'The horcrux had to be worn by one of us at all times, so we wouldn't lose it.' Harry continued. 'It was a locket, containing a piece of Voldemort's soul. Until we figured out how to destroy it, we had to keep it around. It… it effected Ron the worst.'

'How do you mean… effected?' Percy asked, his eyes glued to Harry.

'It… took aim at Ron's insecurities.' Harry said, his eyes flicking between the Weasley siblings. 'It kept telling him he wasn't needed… wasn't loved… that me and Hermione would be fine without him around…'

'Insecurities?' Ginny asked, taking her face out of her hands. 'What do you-?'

But Harry continued.

'We- me and Ron, that is- we… we had a fight. It was after we'd heard about Ginny going into the forbidden forest with Hagrid. Ron said… he said I didn't care. That I wasn't worried about your family since I'd faced worst. I… I told him to leave…'

Charlie felt his stomach turn to lead.

'It was… awful…' Harry continued, his voice breaking. 'It was the horcrux that did it… Ron was angry and starved… he'd never recovered properly from losing all that blood…we just started fighting… I told him to leave… he asked… he asked Hermione to go with him…'

Bill let out a gasp, a looking of dawning understanding on his face.

'And she said that… they'd both promised to stay and help… and he… he….'

'He thought she'd chosen you.'

It was the first time Charlie had spoken since entering the room.

Harry nodded, his eyes shut.

'I suppose that's what did it… the possibility that she didn't…. didn't love him… it was the last straw…'

Harry blinked quickly, as if trying to hold back tears.

'We… me and Hermione… we barely survived without him… everything the horcrux had said…it was completely untrue…but it was what he most feared…'

'Harry…' George said, looking pale and drawn. 'Why… why are you telling us this?'

Harry swallowed audibly. It seemed like he was gathering his strength for something.

'That wasn't the worst of it…you see… when Ron came back… he saved my life… stopped me drowning… but then… we tried to destroy the horcrux… and it… fought back…'

'How can a horcrux-'

'It took on forms… of me and Hermione… it said… that he was the least loved… "by the mother who craved a daughter"… "always eternally overshadowed"…'

Tears began to stream down Ginny's face. George looked like he was going to faint.

'Ron… he stabbed it… destroyed it… but… the horcrux… it knew how to attack him… because those were the things he always feared… that he wasn't loved… and that everyone just thought he was an idiot who couldn't anything right…. And…well, he had good reason to think that.'

Harry looked up, and stared around the room at the various Weasley siblings, his eyes lingering on George and Ginny.

'What?' Ginny gasped, her lower lip wobbling. 'Harry, what are you talking about?'

Harry rubbed his eyes, not quite able to meet Ginny's fierce gaze.

' _Did you seriously never notice?_ '

Charlie's voice surprised even himself at how angry and intense it sounded. The eyes of his siblings fell upon him; all of them a mix of horror, shock and confusion.

'You all just _couldn't_ resist poking fun at him, could you?!' Charlie yelled, his temper rapidly flaring. He was suddenly on his feet, although he didn't remember standing up. 'You just _had_ to keep at it! Goodness forbid that he ever get some support from his own family! "Least loved"? Why am I not even _remotely surprised_ he thought that?!'

Harry stepped in front of Charlie, reaching out a hand to placate him.

'Charlie, don't! They didn't realise-'

'THEY BLOODY DID!' Charlie bellowed, his hands curling into fists. Everyone flinched; Charlie had never been this angry before. 'How many times did I tell you lot to knock it off- that it would just make him feel worse- _how many times_? But you _never_ did! By the sounds of it, you all did it _even more_ as time went on!'

Percy and Bill both looked deeply ashamed, but Charlie's ire wasn't aimed at them.

George was staring down at his lap, his fingers digging into his knees. Tears were now streaming down Ginny's face.

'Do- do none of you actually realise how _difficult_ it was for Ron to find his own identity in this family?' Charlie yelled, his eyes sweeping over his siblings. 'I was lucky; I was only second-born, I could make me own way! But Ron… he never thought he'd amount to anything! And you lot still mocked him for it!'

'It- it wasn't like that!' Ginny cried, wiping her eyes with her hand. 'We never meant to- we didn't know he was bottling it all up- Charlie, how could you possibly-?'

'"Pygmy puff tattoo" sound familiar, Ginny?' Charlie growled. An off-hand comment of Ron's from years earlier suddenly springing into his mind. 'Comparing him to his best mate was bad enough, but you joked about his lack of masculinity in front of the girl he loved! How did you think he was going to take that? OF COURSE HE WAS GOING TO INTERNALISE IT!'

'Harry!' Ginny exclaimed, turning her attention to her boyfriend. 'You were there! It wasn't like that- we were just mucking about…'

But she trailed off as she saw the look on Harry's face. The boy who lived was staring down at his feet, his face a picture of the purest self-loathing.

'I never… I never meant to…' Ginny slumped down against the side of the sofa, her head in her hands. 'I always thought he knew I was joking…'

'You might have been,' Harry said, his throat bobbing with suppressed weeping. 'I might have been too, but he thought we were just stating _facts_.'

Charlie put his face in his hands. This was too much.

'Did none of you- all this time- did _none_ of you even notice?'

There was silence.

Charlie turned and began to walk out of the room.

'I think we all owe Ron an apology, to be honest. It's a miracle he doesn't hate us.'

'Hi everyone; anything happen while we were gone?'

Ron's cheerful tones cut through Charlie's mood like a knife. He had been sat staring out into the Burrow's garden for what felt like hours. Both his parents were confused as to what Harry had talked to the siblings about, but he had barely said a word.

Charlie leapt up from where he was sitting, strode over to Ron, and pulled him into a tight hug.

Ron spluttered in shock.

'You- you okay, Charlie?'

Charlie chuckled darkly. He gave Ron one last pat on the back, and pulled away.

'Yeah, mate. Sorry….it's been a weird evening.'

'Oh, okay.'

'You two got Teddy home fine, then?'

'Yes.' Hermione said, linking her arm through Ron's absentmindedly. 'Andromeda wouldn't let us leave until she'd fed us half her larder. Ron didn't complain, though.'

'Guilty as charged.' Ron chuckled, squeezing Hermione's hand. 'But I do it so well, 'Mione.'

Hermione grinned up at him.

Feeling very much like a third wheel, Charlie decided it would be best to leave the couple to their own devices. But before he could act upon this, the door swung open.

'Hey Ron,' George said, clapping Ron on the back. 'I couldn't help overhearing you two flirting again.'

'I take it you find it irritating?' Ron asked, rolling his eyes.

'Actually, I think it's really sweet.' George said, earnestly. 'I'm really happy for you two.'

Ron looked a little shocked by this uncharacteristically-supportive behaviour from his brother. Hermione raises her eyebrows in confusion.

'Hey, I like seeing my little brother being happy!'

'Who are you and what have you done with George?'

George laughed, and clapped Ron on the back.

'You're dating a really funny bloke, Hermione,' he said, addressing the bushy-haired witch. 'You picked the right guy.'

'I already know that,' smiled Hermione, squeezing her boyfriend's hand. Ron's ears turned red.

'MARRY HIM, HERMIONE!' called Bill and Percy from through the doorway. 'YOU'VE GOT THE CATCH OF THE CENTURY!'

Ron was blushing so much that his face now resembled a tomato. He clearly wasn't used to his brothers being supportive. Oh well, Charlie thought, at least it was an improvement on the constant teasing.

'Hey Ginny,' George called through the door. 'Got anything to say to Ron?'

There was silence, and then Charlie heard the sound of footsteps moving up the staircase.

Charlie sighed. Ginny had obviously taken the revelation about Ron's insecurities far worse than the rest of them had.

Charlie awoke with a start. The rain had suddenly started again, and was lashing against the window of his old room.

Scratching his beard wearily with one hand, Charlie climbed out of bed. Deciding to get some food from the kitchen, he exited the room and softly closed the door behind him.

The house was silent, except for the occasional sounds of sleep from the various bedrooms, and the soft grunting of the ghoul in the roof.

Charlie stepped off the bottom of the staircase, and tiptoes into the kitchen. Finding a packet of his mother's home-made biscuits in a cupboard, he decided to sit in the next room and eat for a bit.

However, as he reached the sitting room door, hushed whispers reached him.

'Ginny, what are you on about?'

'I've already told you, Ron; I'm apologising…'

Charlie stopped in his tracks. His two youngest siblings were just visible through the crack in the door. Ginny was talking animatedly with her hands, a nervous expression on her face. Ron was stood a few feet from her, his eyes wide in confusion.

Charlie crept to the side, so that his bulk wasn't visible from through the door.

'Apologising for what?' Ron asked, baffled. Then, in an attempt to lighten the conversation, added 'Did you nick one of my chocolate frogs again?'

'I'm serious, Ron! I didn't know that things were… were so bad for you…'

'Ginny, you're starting to scare me,' Ron said, taking a couple of steps forward. 'What the bloody hell are you talking about?'

Ginny rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her dressing gown.

'Harry told us….about what the locket did to you.'

Ron's breath caught in his throat.

'Look… Ginny…' Ron said, trying to inject calm into his voice. 'You don't to worry about that… it was just stuff inside my head-'

'NO, IT ISN'T JUST THAT!'

Charlie's eyes worriedly flicked towards the stairs, but there were no signs that any of the sleeping people had awoken. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, Charlie quickly cast a silencing charm on the stairs, so that no sounds from the living room would carry into the rest of the house.

'Ron…' Ginny sobbed, wiping her eyes. 'I'm… I'm so sorry… that I never realised. You… you always thought you were the least of us, and… I don't know… I guess I just thought you were being an annoying older brother. I never realised you actually believed you were the least loved…'

'Ginny…' Ron mumbled, his voice dry. 'You don't have to…'

'Yes, I do!' Ginny cried, her voice rising. 'I've been taking the mick of you for years! And I never… I never realised how badly it was affecting you… even though it should have been so obvious…'

'Gin…..'

'No, Ron! You can't just sweep this under the carpet! Don't try to spare my feelings! I… I'm so sorry….'

Ron stepped towards Ginny, and pulled her into a hug. Charlie could hear Ginny's sobs amongst her repeated utterances of 'I'm so sorry'.

'It's…It's okay, Gin.' Ron said, cradling his sister in his arms. 'Really… I'm not bothered by that anymore…'

'T-that still doesn't excuse the way I acted…'

'You weren't to know, Gin. It's okay.'

Charlie wondered when Ron and Ginny had last had a heart-to-heart like this. It must have been years. The two of them had been close growing up, but (like with so many siblings) the advent of adolescence had resulted in them drifting apart. But that distance finally seemed to have shortened.

Eventually, Ginny pulled away, and rubbed her eyes wearily.

'Does this mean I'm not allowed to nick your chocolate frogs anymore?'

Ron let out a chuckle.

'Pretty sure you weren't allowed to anyway…'

Ginny laughed, and gave her brother's arm a friendly slap.

Charlie smiled softly to himself, and removed the silencing charm, before making his way back upstairs.

Finally, the wounds had begun to heal.


End file.
